Martin Paine and his wife Anne Kirmond have spent years as landlord causing distress to the leaseholds at Blythe Court and many other sites. LKP first broke the story of the Panie’s ground rent exploits in January 2016 despite warning letters from solicitors Taylor Emmet LLP. https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/martin-paine Since this story, we have covered the activities […]

Following a complaint to the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) Martin Paine has chosen to resign his position as a member rather than face investigation. On several occasions in the last 18 months this site has reported on the exploits of Martin Paine, his FCA regulated wife, Ann Kirmond (Ref no MAK01110), and their […]

Leasehold sector insiders were aghast at the address given by Sir Peter Bottomley on Wednesday at the Leasehold Advisory Service “annual conference”. The event was packed with surveyors, valuers, lawyers and property managing agents paying £350 a head to attend what has until now been the most important trade show of the sector. Earlier housing […]

Sir Peter Bottomley (Conservative, Worthing West) named the leasehold-gameplayer Martin Paine as a “crook” in the Commons yesterday. “We should not have to rely on the chance action of a campaigning charity such as LKP [the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership] or the Campaign Against Retirement Leasehold Exploitation—or a passing Member of Parliament, to get things put […]

The Guardian newspaper has today reported the Blythe Court ground rent scandal that has left leaseholders with bills of up to £8,000 a year. In 95 years the ground rents can reach £8 million a year for a one-bedroom flat bought for £58,000, says the article, written by Guardian staff reporter Rupert Jones. It quotes […]

These issues were raised by Sir Peter Bottomley in the Queen’s Speech debate yesterday Let me turn to other issues that come up for Back Benchers. I pick up causes, one of which came about as a result of an incident in my constituency regarding leasehold, when some elderly, frail and poor people found themselves […]

Below are freeholds from the Land Registry featuring properties owned by companies belonging to Martin Paine and / or his wife Margaret Anne Kirmond. They appear to own the freeholds of 444 flats, and other assets on leases such as garages. The freehold owning companies are Mercia Property Investments Limited, F.t.z. Limited and Chamber Estates Limited. We […]

[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”11520″ popup=”1″ delay=”7″ exit_popup=”1″ popup_opacity=”0.3″]It is not just Blythe Court … two London leasehold owners also faced demands of thousands of pounds in unexpected ground rents after purchasing flats in different parts of the capital. The leaseholders came forward following the publication last month by the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership of the issues at […]

The issue of Blythe Court flats being sold with exorbitant ground rents is the subject of a website article by international property law giant Hogan Lovells. The article can be read in full here It reports how Sir Peter Bottomley intervened to stop the sale of 1 Blythe Court, which was to have been auctioned […]

The scandalous ground rent charges at Blythe Court featured on BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours programme just before 1pm today. It can be heard here at 31.43 Leaseholders at the site were interviewed, including Kadian Kennelly, 32, and Patrick Majszyk, 32. Sir Peter Bottomley said he was still seeking explanation from the site’s […]

Barnard Marcus Auctioneers, part of the Sequence Auctions group, has suspended the sale of 1 Blythe Court. It has a ground rent of £8,000 a year, and the deed of variation outlining this condition does not appear to be in the legal documentation accompanying the sale. The flat belongs to Margaret Anne Kirmond, wife of […]

Sir Peter Bottomley has urged the Commons to intervene in the auction sale of Flat 1 Blythe Court, where the freeholders and managers are Martin Paine and his wife Anne Kirmond. Flat 1 Blythe Court is up for auction with Barnard Marcus on February 2 in central London with a guide price of £65,000. Sir […]

An affluent couple living in the idyllic Cotswold village of Lower Slaughter are funding their lives through leasehold property cleverness that is costing poorer property buyers thousands of pounds. Martin Paine and his wife Margaret Anne Kirmond are benefiting from the sale of flats at Blythe Court in Coleshill, Birmingham, which have a trap […]

What is LKP?

Only call the numbers below if you are familiar with the LKP website and feel your issue can only be dealt with on the phone. Please do not casually ring up, as we can be deluged by unconsidered calls.

020 8050 2602 07808 328 230

The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership is the secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold reform chaired by the MPs Sir Peter Bottomley (Conservative), Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) and Sir Ed Davey (LibDem). They are also the patrons of LKP.